Leavenworth County KS

Biography of George Vanderschmidt

George Vanderschmidt was a prominent early pioneer citizen of Leavenworth. He came to Kansas in 1868, nearly fifty years ago. Leavenworth is still the home of his daughter, Emma, and of his two progressive sons, Louis and Fred Vanderschmidt, both of whom are prominent merchants of the city. The name Vanderschmidt was originally spelled Von Derschmitt. The late George Vanderschmidt was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, July 11, 1839. He grew up in Germany, attended the public schools, and was between sixteen and eighteen years of age when he left his native land and came to America. An older married … Read more

Biography of Clarence Case Goddard, M. D.

Clarence Case Goddard, M. D. While Doctor Goddard now gives all his time and attention to the Evergreen Place Hospital at Leavenworth, a high class sanitarium for nervous and mental troubles, liquor and drug habits, he had occupied such a disguished position in Kansas medical circles for so many years that hardly any name in the profession is more widely known and more highly honored. In 1911 he was elected president of the Kansas State Medical Society. He served four terms as president of the County Medical Society, had been the president of the District Society, had been a delegate … Read more

Biography of A. Beauchamp

A. Beauchamp. More than thirty years ago A. Beauchamp entered the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney Railway at Atchison as car clerk, and had been continnously with that road, being now one of the veteran employees, and by successive promotions now handles the responsibilities of local agent for the company at Atchison. Mr. Beauchamp is a native of Kansas, and was born in Doniphan County September 15, 1856. That date indicates the pioncer residence of the family in this state. He was born four years before Kansas became a state. It was in the border epoch of Kansas … Read more

Biography of William J. Combs

William J. Combs. Among the families which have been known in business circles of Leavenworth for more than half a century, one which had always borne an honorable reputation and a name for absolute integrity combined with notable achievements is that of Combs, as represented here by the late William J. Combs, who was connected with a number of business enterprises dating from the year 1858 until his death, and his son, George W. Combs, general superintendent of the Great Western Manufacturing Company, and the inventor of several appliances which have made his name widely known. William J. Combs, with … Read more

Biography of John Porter

John Porter. This is the name of one of the old pioneers of Kansas territory. It was fifty-seven years ago when he established his first home within the limits of the presant Shawnee County and there began working out his own destiny and to some extent the destiny of Kansas as a free state and the welfare of his children. It is a name that will always be spoken with respect, and those who bear it in the future will have reason to congratulate themselves in the splendid character of their pioncor Kansas ancostor, John Portor. He was a native … Read more

Biography of William Small

William Small. In the death of William Small Leavenworth lost one of its greatest merchants and one of its most upright, energetic and lovable citizens. He had been a resident of Leavenworth nearly thirty years. He developed the largest real estate establishment of the city, a permanent monument to his name, and still conducted as William Small & Company. He was a man of even and gentle disposition, thoroughly alert in business matters, and public spirited in his attitude toward citizenship and towards the larger social life of his community. He was an invaluable factor in the growth and enterprise … Read more

Biography of William Tecumseh Rooney

William Tecumseh Rooney, a native of Kansas, had had an active career of over thirty years, spent as a farmer, land owner, merchant and business man. His home and business interests for the past twenty years have been at Haddam, and during that time he had become one of the leading factors in the community. Mr. Rooney was born at Leavenworth, Kansas, October 1, 1865, and the name he bears shows that his father was a great admirer of that brilliant Civil war leader General Sherman. His father, Patrick Rooney, was born at Killkeel, County Down, Ireland, August 12, 1828. … Read more

Biography of Henry E. Dean

Henry E. Dean came to Kansas in 1885 at the age of eighteen. Then and for a number of years afterwards he was a humble worker in the ranks of the industrial army. Success did not come to him like a lightning flash, but as a result of long, steady and painstaking effort. For the first two years he was employed on farms in Leavenworth and Franklin counties. On removing to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1887, he found a job as teamster for one of the packing plants. Making himself known as one who could be trusted, and diligent in … Read more

Biography of Leonard T. Smith

Leonard T. Smith, whose scroll of life was rolled up a number of years ago, but the record of which remains in the grateful memory of many Kansas people, was one of the most forceful characters in the early history of Leavenworth and in a larger sense of Kansas as a whole. He was one of the men who had the iron of resolution in his soul and will, and he used his strength and self reliance in many ways for the good of an entire state. His life record begins with his birth on December 2, 1827, at Bethany, … Read more

Biography of Daniel Read Anthony, Jr.

Daniel Read Anthony, Jr., only son of the late Col. Daniel R. Anthony, had been a prominent newspaper man in Kansas for a quarter of a century and had served continuously as representative from the First Kansas District in Congress since March 29, 1907. Born at Leavenworth August 22, 1870, he was educated in the public schools, in the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, and in 1891 was graduated LL. B. from the University of Michigan. He was admitted to the bar, but his real profession had been journalism. On returning to Leavenworth he was soon given the active … Read more

Biography of Frederick Ruder

Frederick Ruder was a pioneer in Kansas Territory in the year 1857. His home was in Leavenworth, but he was closely identified with those activities which spread out from Leavenworth over the plains to the Far West. Leavenworth sixty years ago was one of the most important cities of the Middle West. It was a river town, was thriving and bustling with trade, and to the great territory to the west, now divided among a dozen or more states, Leavenworth occupied relatively a more prominent position than Kansas City does today. Frederick Ruder was for a number of years connected … Read more

Biography of Charles R. Jennison, Dr.

Dr. Charles R. Jennison, of Leavenworth, a brigadier general during the Civil war and afterward a leader in the public affairs of the state, was born in Jefferson County, New York, June 6, 1834. When he was twelve years old he moved with his parents to Wisconsin, and at the age of nineteen years he began to study medicine. After completing his medical course he practiced for a short time in Wisconsin and then came to Kansas, settling at Osawatomie in 1857. Within a short time he moved to Mound City, where he remained for three years, and then went … Read more

Biography of John Adams Jones

John Adams Jones. While the main work of his life for over twenty years had been education, and he had served fourteen years as superintendent of the city schools of Highland, Mr. Jones had many other interests and ties to connect him with that thriving town of Doniphan County. Besides his position as a Kansas educator, all the older base ball fans who followed the fortunes of the teams in the Western League know the name of Mr. Jones as a former pitcher and one of the steadiest and most resourceful players of the national pastime. Mr. Jones was born … Read more

Biography of John Conover, Col.

Of the individuals whose lives have influenced, developed, stabilised and broadened the civic and commercial resources of the State of Kansas, one of the most conspicuous was that of the late Col. John Conover. Coming to Kansas in 1857 and locating in Leavenworth, he was one of the pioneer merchants of that city. Going from Kansas at the outbreak of the war into the service of the Union army, he made a brilliant record as a soldier and officer, and that record is one of the many reasons why Kansas people should have a grateful memory of his life. Following … Read more

Biography of Charles Wolff

The careers and activities of many citizens enter into the solid structure of a city like Topeka. But the prosperity which distinguishes this city can be traced to the enterprise of a group of men who chose it as the seene of their business careers and who through their leadership, their executive ability and their splendid capacity for business organization, created and maintained the greater part of what is prominent and flourishing in industry and commerce. Among this group of business builders, one of the most prominent names is that of the late Charles Henry Wolff, Sr., whose untimely death … Read more

Biography of William C. Hook

William C. Hook, United States Circuit Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, had been a resident of Leavenworth since childhood, and his people have some interesting associations with Kansas in the territorial as well as the later period. Enos and Dawson Adams Hook, brothers, the former the father of Judge Hook and the latter an uncle, came to Kansas when it was a territory and had an active part in the upbuilding of the community in and around Leavenworth. They were the sons of John and Nancy (Adams) Hook. The mother was of the old Pennsylvania family of Adams. The … Read more

Biography of Sheldon Griswold Catlin

Sheldon Griswold Catlin. A notable figure in the commercial life of the City of Leavenworth was the late Sheldon Griswold Catlin. He was a Yankee, of Connecticut birth and ancestry, and possessed the genius of a typical New Englander for trade. Bulwarking his genius in this direction was a remarkable integrity of character and a wholesomeness and breadth of mind which made his presence in any community a source of strength and uplift. It was in 1863 that he came to Leavenworth and became a member of the old wholesale shoe firm of George O. Catlin & Company, a business … Read more

Biography of John Clare

John Clare. The name of John Clare recalls one of the very early territorial pioneers of Kansas. This family, of Irish origin, settled in Eastern Kansas about the time the original Kansas-Nebraska bill was being considered by Congress, and from that time to the present members of the family have shared their fortunes with the fortunes of the Sunflower State, have been worthy members of various communities and have done their share in carrying forward the work of advancement and progress. The late John Clare was born in Queens County, Ireland, in 1836. His father Michael Clare first brought his … Read more

Biography of George A. Clark

George A. Clark, now president of the Toneka Title and Bond Company, is a representative of that class of citizen who without special ostentation have been leaders in making Kansas one of the foremost states of the Union. He is a true and typical Kansan by reason of more than thirty-five years of active participation in its life and affairs. In one respect his career had been unusual. The greater part of his life had been passed in newspaper work, ranging in locality from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, but chiefly in Kansas. This work began as “printer’s … Read more

Biography of William C. Phenicie

William C. Phenicie, an honored veteran of the Civil war, a resident of Kansas for more than half a century, had played his varied part in life with exceeding industry, thrift, and a public spirited sense of responsibility as a citizen. He is now a resident of Tonganoxie in Leavenworth County. His birth occurred on a farm near Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio, December 19, 1841. His parents were George W. and Mary Ann (Howk) Phenicie. His father was an Ohio farmer. He also had the pioneer spirit which led Americans of all classes away from the settled states into the … Read more